Buddhadasa Indapanno

Buddhadasa's Teachings

Suan Mokkh

Retreat

Feedback and Report

The Liberating Teachings of Buddhadasa on Suchness

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“The teachings in this notebook date from 1971. They are handwritten notes of the Dharma offered orally and in writing by Ajahn Buddhadasa. I lived there as a forest monk, and was drawn to Buddhadasa as Dharma revolutionary, a respected friend of Ajahn Chah, and inspiration to a whole generation.
In teachings and form, Buddhadasa stepped beyond the popular forms of Thai Buddhism and offered its pith and essence. Whether in the description of Everyday Nirvana, in the language of non-selfishness instead of non self, in teachings on the void and the turning from...

May We Leave This Legacy With You - Section I

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“I have no inheritance to leave behind for Buddhist friends, my comrades in birth, aging, illness, and death, except for what is spelled out in the following statements. My hope is that for however long these legacies are passed along the activity of Suan Mokkhabālārama will continue and ‘Buddhadāsa’ will remain in that place for that long. Please receive these legacies in your contemplation from this very moment which will create ease in passing them further along. May you accept them as a Dhamma inheritance for all Dhamma Comrades who have offered body and life...

A Single Bowl of Sauce : Teachings Beyond Good & Evil

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“In this volume, I am delighted to find a pleasant mix of old pieces that many people have never seen, a few old things long out of print, some new translations, and pieces that have long been on the web and were ripe for fresh, revised publication. These many-sided examples of Tan Ajahn’s teaching supplement the longer works currently in print, such as the newly issued Under the Bodhi Tree, on dependent co-arising. In this volume, readers will find summaries of the key themes of Tan Ajahn’s Dhamma life and specific application of them to particular activities suc...

Natural Cure for Spiritual Disease

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“This guide is translated from the first series of talks given by Ajahn Buddhadsa to foreign meditators attending the monthly courses at Suan Mokkh. It is intended for Western Dhamma friends, including those who are new to Buddhist understanding and practice. We hope that the perspectives offered here will help new students of Buddhism to get their bearings straight from the start. Those who have studied and practiced Buddhism for some time, no matter what the school or approach, should also find this guide helpful. We can never be too clear what Dhamma and Dhamma...

Kamma in Buddhism

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“To be beyond kamma seems incredible to most people; they may consider it a deception or a huckster’s trick. Nonetheless, it really is possible if we take the Buddha as our True and Noble Friend. This will help us in practicing the complete set of ten aspects of rightness (sammatta): the noble eightfold path plus right insight knowledge and right liberation in accordance with the law of specific conditionality (idappaccayatā). In such practice, there is no foolish feeling that leads to desire for the various results of kamma (actions).”
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Kamma...

Nibbana for Everyone

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“In fact, without this theme of Nibbāna, Buddhism would be as good as dead. When nobody is interested in Nibbāna, then nobody is genuinely interested in Buddhism. When nothing about Nibbāna interests us, then we can’t get any benefits at all from Buddhism. I feel that it’s about time for us to get interested and bring about this highest benefit, as befits the words 'Nibbāna is the Supreme Thing' – namely, the highest goal of living beings, a purpose always inseparable from our daily lives.”
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​Nibbā​na for Everyone (Messages from Suan Mokkh Ser...

Under the Bodhi Tree

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“Ajahn Buddhadāsa made the Lion's Roar against Theravada and most of Buddhist orthodoxy that Dependent Origination taught over 3 lifetimes is impractical and non-sensical to the Buddha's constant emphasis on good practice and nirvana in this lifetime. In this book, Ajahn Buddhadāsa connects this assertion with his teaching of mindfulness meditation making the PRACTICE, not the theory, of Dependent Origination, and the rooting out of the three poisons and ignorance part of a practical daily Buddhist practice. Thanks for your enduring efforts Santikaro to edit this...

Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“The word suññatā has had a checkered history of interpretation and explanation since the Buddha’s time. Now that Buddhist books abound in English, and differing teachings and interpretations are offered as Buddhist, we need to bring the teaching of suññatā into its proper place at the center of Buddhist study and practice. This can only be done if we correctly understand the meaning and importance of suññatā. We hope that this little book will help. Here, we will explore it as it appears in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism...
In this book, Buddhadāsa Bhikk...

Getting Started in Mindfulness With Breathing

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“Sit up straight with all the vertebrae of the spine fitting together snugly. Keep the head upright, with the eyes gazing toward the tip of the nose. Whether you see it or not doesn’t really matter, just gaze in the direction of the nose or past it. Once you get used to this, the results will be better than closing the eyes, and you won’t be inclined to fall asleep so easily. In particular, people who are sleepy will benefit from keeping the eyes open at first rather than closing them. Practice like this steadily and they will close by themselves when the time com...

The Prison of Life

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

“In a lifetime of service to the Buddha, Ajahn Buddhadāsa creatively did whatever he could to help us see how grasping and clinging — especially to ‘me’ and ‘mine’ — is at the center of all our distress, suffering, and dukkha. Simultaneously, he pointed to ‘the life that doesn’t bite its owner’ and how we can practice to live with minds and hearts free and empty of the clinging that bites. He challenged us to find such potential in this life, whether we are ‘religious’ or not, and whatever our vocation, gender, and status. In this booklet, Ajahn Buddhadāsa gets to...